Air conditioning device



Dec- 20, 1932 J. H. KITCHEN ET AL AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed Aug. 3, 1931 matured Dec. 2o, 1932 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN H. KITCHEN, 0F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ANI) FRANCIS A. KITCHENQOF CLEVE- i LAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOBS T0 MAIBEL L. KITCHEN, 0F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, AND

FRANCIS A. KITCHEN, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO In CONDITIONING Dn'vIcn Application led August 3, 1.881. Serial No. 554,746.

This invention relates to improvements in an air conditioning device and refers more particularly to a cooling'unit for conditioning air whereby the air 1s cooled 'l by passing it through cold water sprays, the

water being cooled by a refrigerant such as ice. The invention also has reference to a device for melting the ice rapidly and at a relatively constant rate.

A further novelty of the invention liesIn an arrangement for cooling the water by means of contact with an extended metal sur- -face platform which has a vhigh degree of conductivity so that the cooling elfect of the ice is passed to the reservoiror pool of water maintained at the bottom of the ice at avery rapid rate.

A further novelty of the inventlon hes 1n the insulating of the extended surface platform so that the heat conducted to the ice will be coniined in a great measure to the l of watermaintained below the ice and ut -a small-amount of heat lost by conduction or convection from the shell or casing of the device with the outside air.

A further-,feature of novelty is the arrangement of the parts of the device to secure a reduction in tem erature of the water contacting the extende surface platform by controlling the path of the flow' of water around the extended metal surface.

The application is a continuation in part of previous applications, led in the name of Francis'A. Kitchen, Serial Numbers, 500,195, dated December 5, 1930 and 508,132 dated January 12, 1931.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the air conditioning device. f

Fig. 2 is a view taken along the lines 2=2 inx Fig. 1 .in the direction of the arrows.

i Fig. 3 is a modified type of platform for su rting the refrigerant.

ggg). 4 is a second modification showing a different type of structural features for the refri erant platform.

. Reerring to the drawing, the casing or -enclosure 1, heavily insulated as shown at 2,

p is divided by a partition 3 into a refrigerant compartment 4 and aspray compartment or air conditioning compartment 5. The air ature,

.reservoir of water maintained in conditioning compartment is, divided by a partition 6 which extends only a portion of .the way to the bottom of the compartment. In the partition 3 between the refrigerant compartment 4 and the air compartment 5 is a`closure or door 7 by means of which access is obtained to the piping or sprays in the spray compartment. An aperture 8 in the lower part of the partition 3 is placed at one end of the uniformly over or around the platform and through its longest side increasing the chilling of the water and serving to maintain the liquid level of the pool of water 9 the same in both of the compartments. An overiow line 10 controls the water level. It is to be noted that this overflow pipe is at the warmest place of the unit. This prevents a waste of chilled Water and renders the device more eiicient.

A refrigerant such as ice, as'shown at 11, is placed in the refrigerating compartment 4 through a door in the casing not shown. Air to be conditioned is introduced through the duct 12 passing downwardly through the compartment 5 to the bottom of the partition Gand then upwardly in the direction of the arrows and out through the duct 13 which is connected to the suction side of an exhaust fan' or blower 14 by means of which it is distributed through a discharge pipe 14 to any desired location. In its passage through the vcompartment 5 the air is subjected to the'cooling effect of-water at a. relatively low tempersprayed into the compartment by means of nozzles 16 and 17. In one portion of the air conditioning compartment the air passes substantially in a concurrent direction with the particles of moisture or water from the spray and in the other half of the compartment in a relatively countercurrent direction with the droplets of water from the spray.

The spray nozzles 16 and 17 are sup-plied with the cooling water from the reservoir 9 by means of a circulating pump 18 driven by any suitable source of power such as the motor .shown at 19. The suction side of, the" pump 18 is connected by a pipe 20 with the the refrigerating compartment v4. An 'auxiliary sucplatform so that water may flow tion ipe 21 Icommunicates with the poolof liqui maintained in the spray compartment.

-In the pipe 21 is interposed a valve 22. By

The water is discharged from the pump l18 through a pipe 23 which terminates in a vertical line 24 to which secondary lines 25 and 26 are connected, the latter lines terminating in the spray nozzles 16 and 17. The pipe 27 is also connected into the discharge line 23 from the pump, which line terminates in a s ray 28, positioned in the refrigerating c amber. In the pipe 27 is interposed a valve 29. -By means of the line 27, a portion of the water circulated for air conditioning is sprayed over the refrigerant and accumulates in the bottom' reservoir or pool 9, accom lishing a relatively constant and equalize heat exchange between the refrigerant and the Water. This passage of the liquid coolin Ee refrigerant -to produce heat exchange over t between the refrigerant and the cooling wateris materially assisted'by an extended surface support, preferably of metal of high conduc- A tivit designated in the drawing as 30. .This

plat orm 30 has an opening where the ice rests or at any suitable point,l so that the water melted from the ice can easily drain off and combine with the chilled water. In Fig. 1 this support takes the-form of a corrugated metal platform, the top of whichis a substantially flat surface. The surface which supports the refrigerant is formed preferably of a metal sheet which has been bent back u n itself forming channel members running `ongitudinally of the sheet, the upright portions of th'e channels positioned at an angle producig an-extended or enlargedmetal surface of high conductivity for Vtransferring heat from the pool of liquid to the refrigerant, or the cooling effect of the refrigerant to the pool of liquid. v

In the modified type of construction shown in Fig. 2 the platform as shown at 30 in Fig. 1 would be replaced by a plain metal surface designated as 31, supported by a plurality of verticalupright per orated plates 32 or metal of high conductivity such as copper, noncorrosive steel or similar materials. In Fi 4, the platformY 31, such as thatshownv m Fig. 3, isjsupported by a pluralit of pipes 33. ,These pipes may be rovide merous radial or circufn erential fins (not shown) to increase heat exchange surface. In both the modifications shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a lower plate of metal 34 is positioned below :the supports.

Athrough the tortuous with nu- It is to be understood that any-suitable heat exchange surface may without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Between the refrigerant support and the bottom of the refrigerating compartment'is a heavy layer of insulating material as shown at 35 in all of the figures.4 TheA function of this insulation is to prevent loss of the cooling action of the refrigerant by transmission or conduction of heat thro h the casing.` It is contemplated also that thls insulation may be extended over the bottom of the spray chamber, although it is not so shown in the drawing. As the water in the reservoir in the compartment 5 isrof somewhat higher temperature, -there will he less conduction of heat through thercasing than would be the case with the pool of-li uid in the bottom of the refrigeratin cham er.

In operation, the ice cake,- or refrigerant, is placed upon the platform 30 and water is provided so as to submerge the greater part of the extended surface platform. lThe entire surface may be submerged to a depth of about two inches, so that the ice actually is employed contacted with the circulatory cooling water.

The water is pumped from the reservoir 9 by means of the pump 18, a portion spraying into the spray chamber through spray nozzles 16 and 17, and a ortion of 'the circu-l lated water discharged) from the spray -28 over the refrigerant 11. Simultaneously with the circulation of the water, air is introduced through the duct' 12 and asses assa throu the air conditioning cham r, ing su jected therein to the conditioning elfect'of the water sprays. At the -same time-thewater sprayed into the refrigerating chamber. produces a heat exchange effect, carrying the cooling effect of the refrigerant to the pool of IOS water maintained in the bottom of the device.

The water sprayed into the refri erating chamber as well as the ice itself, egects the cooling of the water in the reservoir principally due to the conductivity ofthe extend- -ed metal platform and passage of the sprayed water over the refrigerant.

The use of the insulated base between the? enclosing floor or 'walls of the storage chamber rovides a check tothe conduction of heat to t e ice `from any other s'ource than the water moved by the pump.

The water resulting from the meltin of the ice is allowed to liow away from the ase of the ice cakes by means of the o enings in the platform, and excess water is discharged through the overflow pi 1D. p

To those familiar withethe cooling of water for ai;` conditioning purposes when using ice,'it is evident that one of the im ortant Vfeatures for successful operation is t e abil- -ity to melt the ice at a rapid and constant rate.

Tests have shown that the melting rate of ice is materially increased by the use of an extended metal surface platform as compared with the direct contact between "the ice and the reservoir water. The fact that the ice cakes must be supported and yet present a large exposed surface vin contact with the water has in the past caused difficulties in the effective melting of the ice. This diliiculty is to a great extent eliminated and done away with in the present air conditioning unit:

While we have described a unit, itis quite feasible to have the ice compartment and the spray compartment located at separated points. A plurality of ice and/ or spray compartments maybe used.

It will be understood that certain features, sub-combinations and operations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is Within the scope of the appended claims. It is further obvious that many changes may 'be made in details, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

l. In an air conditionin device the combination with an ice receivlng compartment, a separate spray compartment, an extended metal surface support for the ice, said surface partially immersed in a waterreservoir in the ice compartment and means for circulating the Water from the reservoir to the spray compartment.

AA2. In an airconditioning device the combination with an ice receivlng compartment, a separate spray compartment, an extended metal surface support for the ice, said surface partially immersed in a water reservoir in the ice compartment, and means for circulating the water from the reservoir to the spray compartment and divertin a portion of the circulated water through t e ice compartment.

3. In an air conditioning device the combnation with an ice receiving compartment a separate spray compartment, an extended metal surface support for the ice, said surface partially immersed in a Water reservoir in the ice compartment, and means for withdrawing a controlled amount of water from the reservoir in the ice compartment and the spray compartment for clrculation to the spray compartment.

4. In an air conditioning device the combination with an ice receivlng compartment, a separate spray compartment, an extended metal surface support for the ice, insulation between the extended metal refrigerant support and the bottom'ef the ice com artment.'

5. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a refrigerating compartment, a spray compartment, a water reservoir, a'heat exchange member immersed in said water reservoir in said refrigeratin compartment said member being forme with a surface adapted to support a cake of ice, and means for circulating the water from the reservoir to the spray compartment.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein the spray compartment is provided with an overow outlet.

7. In an air conditioning -device an ice receiving compartment, an extended surface in said compartment for supporting the ice, a separate spray compartment; and means for circulating water between said ice receiving compartment and said spray compartment. l

8. In an air conditioning device the combination with an ice receiving compartment, a separate spray compartment, an extended metal surface support for the ice, said surface partially immersed in a water reservoir in the ice receiving compartment and means for circulating. the water from the reservoir to the spray compartment, and insulation between the ice support and the bottom of the tures.

JOHN H. KITCHEN. FRANCIS A. KITCHEN. 

